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Another Beginning

This week was the official offical beginning of nursing school. Is it bad to say that I’m already overwhelmed? We had a 5 hour orientation on Tuesday night, yes FIVE hours. Then Wednesday night we had two seperate 3 hour labs. That was lovely too. Someone even passed out. That’s an auspicious beginning, no?

The orientation was intimidating, there were roughly 100 students and the girl behind me was saying her friend started the previous semester and less than 1/3rds went onto the second semester. That was very reassuring. And by the way we have a test on Monday, isn’t that lovely?

One of the kids in my clinical rotation is also in my skill lab and we were standing around discussing how to bathe a patient. Just listening as our instructor was talking us through it. I saw out of the corner of my eye him take about two staggering steps back then just keel over and whack his head off all the IV setups in the process. The girl standing next to him looked down at him and starting screaming bloody murder (I wonder if she’ll make it to the second semester?)

My first trip to the clincial site, a nursing home, will be Tuesday. I don’t think we’re allowed to actually touch any patients until we test off on some of our clinical skills. Apparently the way this is all going to work is they’re going to teach us a skill in one of the labs, then we have to test off on it with an instructor and pass before we’re allowed to do it with patients. This week was blood pressure. You’re buddy SSFB? Not so skilled with the blood pressure cuff. First of all, the kid I was working with was an EMT so he’s a “pro” but I couldn’t find his flippin’ brachial pulse. He even found it for me on his arm and then I’d put my finger there. “Nope, no, I don’t feel it?” Then I would be concentrating so hard on listening for the second value that I would totally forget the first one. Oops.

That’s what my mom told me too when I was getting her to tutor me on BP. She said they’re making it all a lot more complicated than it really is. And I watched the medical assistant at my doctors appointment yesterday, she just slapped the BP cuff on there and started pumping away with the stethoscope just on the inside of my elbow. No feeling around, no finding all these pulses.